This is the fifth installment in a series of posts discussing the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  (You can find the earlier installments here, … Read more

This is the fourth installment of a series of posts discussing the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  (You can find the earlier installments here, … Read more

In my last two posts (here and here), I’ve discussed the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  Purchasing Officer Scarecrow has just finished reviewing the … Read more

In my last post, I talked about the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy. We now rejoin our friends in Emerald City, where the City … Read more

Hard times have come to Emerald City, North Carolina.  People are out of work, no one is buying or building anything, and it doesn’t look like things will get better anytime soon.  The Emerald City Council has decided that they … Read more

What’s the difference between an IFB, and RFP, and an RFQ, and what are they anyway?  As I’ll explain in more detail in this post, what name you give a solicitation document—the document you use to solicit bids or proposals—is … Read more

[Updated 8/26/2010 to include link to list of approved computer equipment manufacturers and television manufacturers.] This wasn’t a big year for changes to local government purchasing and contracting in North Carolina, although there were significant changes affecting North Carolina state … Read more

One of your city council members, Georgia Peach, is a plumber, and owns her own plumbing business, Peaches & Plumbs, LLP.  Peaches & Plumbs often subcontracts with one of the bigger and more reputable general contractors in town, Constructive Construction, … Read more

Have you heard of U.S. Communities?  What about National IPA?  Or HGAC?  WSCA?  TCPN?  NJPA? This alphabet soup of organizations (and others like them) can provide North Carolina local governments with purchasing flexibility and efficiency through an exception to the … Read more

Your local government has just received single-prime bids on the construction of a new civic center.  After evaluating the bids you’ve received, you determine that Crafty Contractor Construction Company (“Crafty”) is the apparent lowest responsive, responsible bidder.  Crafty identified four … Read more